NEW YORK—Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav heaped praise on his newly minted CNN chief Mark Thompson, calling him an “exceptional leader”—all in front of the man Zaslav fired and Thompson replaced.
Appearing on-stage with New York Times financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin during the paper’s DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Zaslav offered his views on CNN’s tumultuous trajectory during his nearly two years atop its parent company. Sorkin asked Zaslav about his toughest day on the job, with the CEO citing the company’s first round of sweeping layoffs last year.
“I thought you might say something about Chris Licht,” Sorkin replied, referencing the former CNN CEO whom Zaslav hired for the job in 2022 before financial losses and sagging ratings (and, of course, that disastrous Atlantic profile) ultimately led to his high-profile firing in June. Zaslav has since hired Thompson, a former New York Times Company CEO who he said on Wednesday has “won the hearts and minds of the team” at CNN.
